Cortez
Cortez is the pirate king, and the Chapter 5 boss of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. He has the appearance of a skull. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Cortez was captain of a ship, the Black Skull, and possessed a great treasure hoard, but the Black Skull's power source, the Skull Gem, was stolen by Flavio's ancestors, and the Black Skull lost all its power. After the death of Cortez and his crew, they all became ghosts. Cortez usually took the form of a giant skull, while his crew became Embers. Some of his crew mysteriously found their way to Star Way, a path leading to Star Haven in the first Paper Mario. Cortez cursed the island his ship was located on, Keelhaul Key, trapping anyone who got near enough to it. When Mario, Flavio, and their crew set sail for Keelhaul Key, Cortez attacked them. He initially appeared in the form of a giant Ember, before the other Embers sank the ship. Mario and his partners eventually entered the Pirate's Grotto, and Cortez tried to scare him away with scary warnings, until Mario found the Black Skull. He met Cortez inside it, where Cortez stopped saying "OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo", because "Pirates do not moan!" He accused Mario of trying to steal his treasure and fought him. He took three different forms during the battle, and in his third form he ate the souls of the audience to replenish his health, but was defeated. However, he was already dead and unable to die again. When he realized that Mario was not after his treasure, but the Sapphire Star, Cortez handed it over and sent Mario out of his ship. When Lord Crump, who was with Mario and Flavio on the voyage as Four-Eyes, attacked them in a spiked X-Naut ship with cannons, Flavio decided to negotiate with Cortez so they could use his ship to stop Crump. Cortez initially did not want to lend Flavio his ship, and either way his ship was powerless without the Skull Gem. When Flavio revealed to Cortez he had the Skull Gem, and offered to give it to him, Cortez threatned to turn him into a pinata, until Flavio threatened to make Mario fight Cortez again and, during the battle, throw the Skull Gem into the sea. Cortez reluctantly accepted. Flavio gave him the Skull Gem, and Cortez and his Embers, with Pa-Patch and several Toads on board as well, faced Crump's ship until the ships docked together. The Embers and Toads fought the X-Nauts while Mario fought Crump and defeated him. Crump and his minions were forced to retreat. Cortez was impressed by Mario's battle skills, and said he would take him to Rogueport, and to return him to Keelhaul Key if he ever wished to. He took Mario, Flavio, and the Toads back, but Pa-Patch, Frankie, Francesca, and some of the Toads decided to stay. From this point on, Cortez can be found at the docks in Rogueport, and will take Mario to Keelhaul Key if he talks to him and says he'd like to go there, and will also take him back to Rogueport. He is no longer evil or creepy. After the Shadow Queen was defeated, Bobbery and Cortez began going to sea every day. Battle Each of Cortez's forms has 20 HP, 4 attack, and 1 defense. His first form has four arms, a spine, and a bone pile. The bone pile is spiked, so any jump attacks executed must be done on his head. Hammer attacks on the bone pile will damage him as well. Bobbery and Vivian will do the most damage to Cortez. He attacks with four weapons, sometimes at once and sometimes separately. One weapon is a sword, one is a saber, one is a hook, and one is a rapier. When his first form is defeated, Cortez will drop his weapons and transform into his second form. His spine is in a different position and he now has a ribcage. There is a gem inside the ribcage. Attacking the bone pile twice will open the ribcage and expose the gem, which has -1 defense, thus attacks to it will deal massive damage to Cortez. He can charge his attack power by 4, then on the next turn throw bones at Mario and his partner for 8 damage. This can be avoided by using Vivian's Veil. His third form is just a floating skull with no spine, arms, or bone pile; however, his weapons are moving on their own as separate enemies. They cannot be jumped on as they have the same effect as a spiked enemy. If defeated somehow, they will only get back up; however, they can be blown out of the fight for good by Flurrie's Gale Force. Cortez attacks by biting Mario. When his HP is reduced to zero, or else if it gets low enough, he will eat the souls of half the audience to replenish 48 HP; however, his maximum HP will remain at 20. When his HP is reduced to zero after he does this, he will finally be defeated. Trivia *Cortez plays a similar role to Jonathan Jones from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, as both are pirates who are initially enemies of Mario but become allies after Mario defeats them, and help him fight one of the main villain's henchmen. *Cortez also plays a similar role to the whale from Paper Mario, as both take Mario to the island to the south that Chapter 5 is set in. *Cortez and Lava Piranha from Paper Mario are both Chapter 5 bosses, and their spines are in similar positions (at least in Cortez's first form). *Cortez is the second of three bosses to eat the audience to restore his HP. Category:Undead Category:Ghosts Category:Bosses Category:Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door bosses Category:Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door characters Category:Murderers Category:Audience attackers Category:Villains